VeganMoFo: Cheater's Chana Masala

This is cheater's chana masala because it's not the way you're supposed to make it. It's not authentic and it doesn't taste AS good as when you do it right, but holy crap is it tasty. To make this, you just start by sauteeing some onions in a pot. Then you put in roughly equal amounts of curry powder and garam masala and a little bit of tomato paste or tomato sauce. Then you add canned chickpeas and more of the seasoning if needed. If it's dry, add some water. If it's too wet, boil some water off. Just let it simmer a little bit for the flavors to blend. Serve over rice or with naan or whatever. I had it with some plain ol flatbread.

VeganMoFo: 100 vegan foods

I got this list from B.A.D. (Unhealthy Vegan) who got it from Jodie (The Picky Vegan) who got it from it's original creator Jenn (Tiny Choices). The rules are simple folks, steal this list from the blog you read it off of, giving props/credit/shout outs or plugs to those who posted before you and bold the ones you have eaten… please copy the list and paste it into the comments below, bolding the ones you’ve tried!

My total: 27, damn, I suck!

1. Molasses
2. Cactus/Nopales
3. Scrambled Tofu
4. Grilled Portobella Caps
5. Fresh Ground Horseradish
6. Sweet Potato Biscuits
7. Arepa
8. Vegan Cole Slaw
9. Ginger Carrot Soup
10. Fiddlehead Ferns 
11. Roasted Elephant Garlic
12. Umeboshi
13. Almond Butter Toast
14. Aloe Vera 
15. H and H Bagel NYC
16. Slow Roasted Butternut Squash
17. White truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Freshly ground wasabi
20. Coconut Milk Ice Cream (not store bought) 
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Orchard-fresh pressed apple cider
23. Organic California Mango (in season Sept-Oct only)
24. Quinoa
25. Papaya Smoothie
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet (habanero) pepper
27. Goji Berry Tea
28. Fennel
29. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
30. Radishes and Vegan Buttery Spread
31. Starfruit
32. Oven fresh Sourdough bread 
33. Sangria made with premium fruit and juices
34. Sauerkraut
35. Acai Smoothie
36. Blue Foot Mushrooms
37. Vegan Cupcake from Babycakes nyc
38. Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh combo
39. Falafel
40. Spelt Crust Pizza
41. Salt and Pepper Oyster Mushrooms
42. Jicama Slaw
43. Pumpkin Edamame Ginger Dumplings
44. Hemp Milk
45. Rose Champagne
46. Fuyu
47. Raw Avocado-Coconut Soup
48. Tofu Pesto Sandwich
49. Apple-Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne fresh-pressed juice…with Extra Ginger
50. Grilled Seitan
51. Prickly pear
52. Fresh Pressed Almond Milk
53. Concord Grapes off the vine
54. Ramps
55. Coconut Water fresh from a young coconut
56. Organic Arugula
57. Vidalia Onion
58. Sampler of organic produce from Diamond Organics
59. Honeycrisp Apple
60. Poi
61. Vegan Campfire-toasted Smores
62. Grape seed Oil
63. Farm fresh-picked Peach
64. Freshly-made pita bread with freshly-made hummus
65. Chestnut Snack Packs
66. Fresh Guava
67. Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
68. Raw Mallomar from One Lucky Duck, NYC
69. Fried plantains
70. Mache
71. Golden Beets
72. Barrel-Fresh Pickles
73. Liquid Smoke
74. Meyer Lemon
75. Veggie Paella
76. Vegan Lasagna (raw optional)
77. Kombucha
78. Homemade Soy Milk
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Lychee Bellini
81. Tempeh Bacon
82. Sprouted Grain Bread
83. Lemon Pepper Tempeh 
84. Vanilla Bean
85. Watercress
86. Carrot you pulled out of the ground yourself 
87. Vegan In-Season Fruit Pie
88. Flowers
89. Corn Chowder
90. High Quality Vegan Raw Chocolate--how high quality?
91. Yellow fuzz-free Kiwi 
92. White Flesh Grapefruit
93. Harissa
94. Coconut Oil
95. Jackfruit
96. Homemade Risotto
97. Spirulina
98. Seedless ‘Pixie’ Tangerine
99. Gourmet Sorbet, not store bought
100. Fresh Plucked English Peas

VeganMoFo: Epicurious Game

This is a fun game that Isa came up with. You have to go to Epicurious.com and follow Isa's instructions and then try to veganize whatever recipe you end up with. I got this recipe called "Minced Chicken with Vegetables in Lettuce Cups." I've been wanting to make something like this ever since I tried something similar in a friend's dad's restaurant, so it was the perfect challenge for me. I used seitan instead of chicken and actually added vegetables (instead of that recipe's pitiful excuse for vegetables). The sauce is somewhat different and the process is way different. Their way sounded really gross. I didn't measure everything when I made this, but this is approximate quantities to start with. Adjust according to taste.

Seitan and Vegetable Lettuce Cups


1 head iceberg lettuce
1 cup chopped seitan (I used the veganomicon recipe)
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped cremini or mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped baby corn 
1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
1/4 cup chopped bell peppers
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 tbsp cornstarch
Peanut oil for stir frying


Heat a tablespoon or two or oil in a wok or big skillet and add all the vegetables except for the lettuce. Let them heat a little while you mix the other ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the sauce mixture and stir fry until the vegetables are soft. Let cool 5-10 minutes. Peel off lettuce leaves and put a couple of spoonfuls of the filling in each and eat!

VeganMoFo: Fall flavors

Last night I wanted something for dinner that really felt like fall. So I made the chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. The thyme and sage flavors make it perfect for the beginning of fall. I tried them a couple of years ago when I first got Vcon, but I didn't like them. They were too mushy and meh. But everyone on the PPK kept raving about them, so I figured I'd give it another shot. Good thing I did! They were much better this time around. I like to do a mix between baking and frying. I bake them a little to get the insides to be firm and then I pan fry them a little to make the outside crispy. Yum! So if you tried these in the past and didn't like the texture, try them again. It's worth it.

VeganMoFo: The best cookies ever. Maybe.

I found the inspiration for these cookies last week, when I was looking for a cookie to send Megan in the care package I sent her. They're based off of these cookies, but I just changed a couple of things. They're Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and they have quickly become a favorite here in my house. My mom doesn't like chocolate chips in cookies, my sister doesn't really like peanut butter cookies, and my niece doesn't like oats, but they all love these cookies. I've made them about four times already.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 3/4 c oats
1/2 c rice flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 c applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c unsweetened natural chunky peanut butter (if you don't use the natural kind, omit the white sugar)
2/3 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375° F. Grind all but 1/4 cup of the oats in a food processor. Add rice flour, baking soda, and salt and pulse to mix. In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugars, applesauce, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and the rest of the oats and mix to combine. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake for 11 minutes.

Happy VeganMofo!

Welcome to the third annual VeganMofo (Vegan Month of Food, that is)! I did a few posts for the first one and completely passed on the second one because I was busy with school, but now I'm only taking two classes at Suffolk, so I think I can handle it. I'm going to reallllly try to post something every day. If I miss something, I have to do two things for the next day.

So today, I'm starting off nice and simple with biscuits! I used the recipe from How It All Vegan. They were wonderful! Super easy. I made them really quickly before I left for class today. I don't have time for rolling and cutting and all that jazz, so I just plop them on to the cookie sheet as is. And I usually double the recipe, so I can save some of the dough in the fridge and have fresh biscuits two days in a row or have some for breakfast and some with dinner. So anyway, I'm posting the recipe because I found it easily online already and I have an audience of about 2, so it doesn't really matter:

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup margarine or veggie shortening
3/4- 1 cup non-dairy milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar

Preheat oven to 450. Combine dry ingredients, than add wet and stir until just combined. Drop into muffin trays or cut out into shapes or whatever onto an oiled whatever. Bake for 12-18 minutes.